When the organizers of the Latin Alternative Music Conference say that their event puts a spotlight on Spanish alternative music, believe them. One of the bands set to perform in the upcoming five-day conference, Los Fancy Free, is fronted by the son of Mexican hippie Mennonites. Another, The Brazilian Girls, are neither chicks, Brazilian or for that matter, Latino. Welcome to the LAMC.
“The lovely thing about Latin alternative music is that it doesn’t have a clear definition,” says Tomás Cookman, one of the founders of the festival, now entering its ninth year. “It could be an electronica band, a hip-hop band, a rock band, it could be reggae band – I think its more about an attitude than it is a sound,” says the New York-born puertorriqueÑo now living in Los Angeles.
So if you are a serious salsero hoping to get your dance “on two,” you may want to skip this event. This musical extravaganza is for those looking to rock out to the Latino avant-garde, the underground, the experimental – perhaps, the next big thing.
Reggaetón, salsa, merengue, tango, cumbia .ñ.ñ. they’re so, like, yesterday.
The annual conference, which was started by Cookman and publicity agent Josh Norek at the height of the rock en espaÑol boom nearly a decade ago, is the largest of its kind in the nation. What began as an effort to market Spanish-language alternative music to industry insiders has expanded to reach a more diverse audience of both Latinos and non-Latinos, from New York City and beyond.
Besides the free and paid concerts, the event features art exhibits, panels, films, and, of course, parties galore. The conference will showcase a mix of new, local, rising and mainstream pop talent from as far away as Argentina, Chile and Spain, and as nearby as Brooklyn and The Bronx.
Chana, a Dominican American from New York (via Miami) and now a Los Angeles resident, is a rising alt-rock singer/songwriter who is scheduled to bring her clever rock, dub and electronica sound to SOB’s. Rock-en-espaÑol favorites from Mexico Plastilina Mosh will rock out at Summer Stage.
But the main headliner this year is Mexico City rock princess Julieta Venegas. It’s the third time the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, who has cracked the mainstream, performs at LAMC.
“She’s bringing her strings, horns, her huge orchestra,” says an enthused Cookman, who also heads the rock label, Nacional Records. “Julieta is the perfect example of an indie artist who has crossover appeal but hasn’t lost her edge.”
The big story this year is the growing indie-rock scene coming out of Mexico City. Los Fancy Free, a new wave/electro-pop/punk rock band whose frontman goes by the name Menonita Rock, will be representing the phenomenon.
“When people in New York think Latino music, they think, ‘What time does the dance start?’ñ” says Cookman.
“Dancing is very important – but when you see an amazing rock band from Mexico City or an amazing reggae band from Chile, or a hip-hop artist from Argentina and they’re all fantastic, it helps further our culture and the definition of who we are,” says Cookman. “We are not one thing.”
Live and kickin’
LAMC, July 8-12, various times, and locations latinalternative.com
Wed. July 9
LAMC Music and Film Night at Central Park Summer Stage
“Bragging Rights: Stickball Stories,” a film by Sonia Gonzalez
“Machito: A Latin Jazz Legacy,” directed by Carlos Ortiz
Music performance by Cucu Diamantes of YerbaBuena
Rumsey Playfield in Central Park, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Free.
Pilar Diaz, Aigmat, Don Tetto, Alla, La Pulqueria, Forr in the Dark, Guajiro
Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St., corner of Avenue A and Houston Street
(212) 260-4700, 8 p.m. $15.
Thursday, July 10
Miranda, Alex Cuba, Udi. E Geral, Chana, Gonzalo YaÑez
SOB’s, 204 Varick St. at West Houston Street
sobs.com, (212) 243-4940. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. $10.
Emmanuel Horivlleur, Ximena SariÑana, Sussie 4, DJ Pauer
Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St., between The Bowery and Chrystie Street.
7 p.m., $15, tickemaster.com.
Friday, July 11
Brazilian Girls, Miranda, Ticklah
Prospect Park Bandshell, Ninth St. at Prospect Park West, (718) 855-7882.
7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. $3 suggested donation.
Saturday, July 12
Julieta Venegas, Plastilina Mosh
Central Park Summer Stage, Rumsey Playfield in Central Park.
3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Free.